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Re: The Hunt For Shohei Ohtani

Originally Posted by freebubba

Not disagreeing with any of that or saying he is doing anything wrong, I am just sick of hearing about it.

Actually, I'm kind of surprise to how swiftly this process has proceeded. I suspect by this time next week we know where he's going. Originally, I thought the process wouldn't be completed until near the deadline of December 22nd. Again, I think he knew which teams he really had interest in so that's the reasoning for why this process is probably going to wrap up by next week and not the week after.

Re: The Hunt For Shohei Ohtani

One demographic is uniquely suited to answer that: Ex-major leaguers who played against Ohtani in Japan.

"I see the appeal," said Dennis Sarfate, a reliever who pitched parts of four seasons in the majors and won the Japanese Pacific League MVP award in 2017. "I've said it from day one, this guy is going to be a superstar, and he is that good."

Stefen Romero, an outfielder who played parts of three seasons for the Mariners before joining Orix in the JPPL for 2017, was one of the few to actually face Ohtani on the mound this year. Ohtani made only five starts due to an ankle injury that required surgery in October.

When Romero faced Ohtani, he struck out swinging.

"I fouled off some good fastballs, 98-100 (mph)," Romero said, "and he just threw a devastating forkball in the dirt.

"He's not your everyday Japanese player. He's 6-foot-5, 6-6 and he's huge. When you see him on the mound it's just so smooth and effortless and it just comes out….He doesn't throw 100 all the time. Throughout the game he'll be like 93-94, and then when he wants to he'll go 100, 100, 100."

"His fastball is hittable," Romero said. "I feel like it's hittable to American players because it's straight, there's not a lot of movement. It's hard, but it is straight. It's more of like an overhand, three-quarter arm slot so it's not too difficult to pick up. But it's his offspeed pitches that he can throw for strikes and have the same arm slot and arm speed with that will get you in trouble. His forkball, it looks just like a fastball but it drops two feet straight down. It starts at your thigh and looks just like a 100-mph fastball and then it just drops two feet into the dirt. His offspeed stuff is pretty legit."

"Sometimes he thinks too much," Sarfate said. "It's like 'Hey, you throw 100, stop throwing offspeed.' I mean I've seen him throw as many as seven breaking balls in a row.

"He doesn't have great command," added Sarfate, who has played against Ohtani in the JPPL since 2013. "Everyone thinks his command is good, but I've seen him walk three, four guys in a row and it's because he gets out of sync because he throws so many breaking balls…. If he got a catcher that was around for a while and they could actually guide him through it, I think he would eventually be really good."

"He's not Masahiro Tanaka," Sarfate said. "Tanaka faced us in 2013 when I was with Seibu. He was definitely far more advanced than what Ohtani is, but he was also a little bit older. If you had said Tanaka (would compete for Cy Youngs right away), I would've said absolutely. The guy commands three pitches down in the zone, he's consistent every time he takes the mound; there's no way Ohtani comes in his first year over and contends for the Cy Young.

"He is better than most guys I see pitch as a fourth or fifth starter. He can definitely go there and pitch in the big leagues and you can let him have his ups and downs. If he just worked on pitching, I think then he could be a Cy Young winner."

Re: The Hunt For Shohei Ohtani

Is it just me or I see zero reason why NL teams should be in the hunt for Ohtani. With no DH they have to sacrifice a position players (most likely OF) playing time so he can hit. Then you also have to worry about injuries while playing defense.

With the DH he can hit and just be another bat in the lineup. Unless they want to PH him on non-pitching days where he'll get 1 AB which makes zero sense. The only benefit his days he pitches, you get a rockstar bat in the 9 hole.

The real reason why the Yankees keep winning is cause the other team can't stop staring at the damn pinstripes

Re: The Hunt For Shohei Ohtani

@BillShaikin

Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo: "What mattered to him most wasn’t market size, time zone or league but that he felt a true bond with the Angels. He sees this as the best environment to develop and reach the next level and attain his career goals."

Re: The Hunt For Shohei Ohtani

Originally Posted by trapper700

@BillShaikin

Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo: "What mattered to him most wasn’t market size, time zone or league but that he felt a true bond with the Angels. He sees this as the best environment to develop and reach the next level and attain his career goals."

Yeah right! He wanted to be out West and in a market with less pressure. It's LA or Anaheim, but it's not like they're the Dodgers. Good luck to him.

Re: The Hunt For Shohei Ohtani

Originally Posted by trapper700

@BillShaikin

Ohtani's agent, Nez Balelo: "What mattered to him most wasn’t market size, time zone or league but that he felt a true bond with the Angels. He sees this as the best environment to develop and reach the next level and attain his career goals."

I wonder what caused him to feel that "true bond" with the Angels rather than with the Mariners. I wonder how much of it was the approach of the two GMs.

Re: The Hunt For Shohei Ohtani

Originally Posted by ArodEra

I’m typically more magnanimous, but I want him to be a colossal fail and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is.

I'm not sure he's going to be a successful MLB hitter. It will be interesting to see how he responds when pitchers bust him inside near his throwing elbow since he's a right-handed pitcher, but a left-handed hitter.

This is absolute worst case scenario. My God I hate baseball. Only the fuggn Mariners can disappoint me in the fuggn off-season

Can we really blame him for not wanting to go to a franchise so riddled with failure? I think it's a smart move.

KOOL AID HERE! GET YOUR ARSENIC LACED KOOL AID HERE!

A-rod is no longer the most hated baseball player in this city

It sucks, but we have a lot of international money to sign others, like the braves prospects or Cuban defectors. Maybe I'm in denial, but I'm trying to stay positive. Maybe I'm only positive because I'm at work and can't start drinking yet.

Wow, what did I do to deserve an extra batch of the Mariner's building my hopes up to knock them down?
REALLY? F*CKING REALLY?!?!?!?!?!? MAN F*CK THIS SH*T

I hope mike trout breaks his f*cking leg

What a f*cking joke. Can't believe he went to a team that can't even figure out what city it's in.

I feel like I just got punched in the gut. I feel f*cking sick

This is f*cking stupid, Im not supposed to be this sad during the f*cking offseason.

I mean, we are M's fans, we should have expected disappointment.

What an idiot. He could’ve been our number one guy who we build our franchise around. Probably would’ve been the number one fan favorite. Now he will always be second at best to Trout. Plus the Angels don’t even have fans. They’re all Dodgers fans.